Bavinck on the Christian Life: Following Jesus in Faithful Service (Theologians on the Christian Life)

by John Bolt

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2015

Overview

Herman Bavinck looms large as one of the nineteenth century’s greatest Christian thinkers, contributing much to modern Reformed theology. Yet, despite his theological prowess, Bavinck was first and foremost concerned with being “a worthy follower of Jesus.” In this book, John Bolt—editor of the English edition of Bavinck’s four-volume masterpiece, Reformed Dogmatics—brings the great Dutch theologian’s life and work to bear on following Jesus in the twenty-first century, helping us see the direct connection between robust theology, practical holiness, and personal joy.

Contents

Top Highlights

“We are human before we are Christian, and we are Christian to be truly human.” (Page 69)

“‘this mystical union, this spiritual, living, communion with Christ is the primary element of the imitation of Christ.” (Page 111)

“We do not become God as he exists in his own essence; we only participate in the energy or activity of God” (Page 77)

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, even for Christian principles, if he loses his own soul?’⁶ Christians who share the classic Reformed emphasis on the value of all vocations as ‘service in the kingdom of God’ should never downplay the urgency of our Lord’s command to proclaim the gospel to the world and disciple the nations. To repeat Bavinck’s words: ‘For this is indeed what life boils down to.’” (Page 44)

“The doctrine of common grace, we must always remember, is intended not to give us permission to bless and use unbelieving culture but to lift our hearts to God, the giver of ‘every good and perfect gift.’” (Page 52)

Product Details

• Title: Bavinck on the Christian Life: Following Jesus in Faithful Service
• Author: John Bolt
• Series: Theologians on the Christian Life
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Christian life; Bavinck, Herman, 1854-1921
• ISBNs: 9781433540745, 9781433540776, 9781433540752, 9781433540769, 1433540746, 1433540770, 1433540754, 1433540762
• Resource ID: LLS:BVNCKCHRSTNSRVC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:24:00Z

About John Bolt

John Bolt has served as pastor of Christian Reformed churches in Pencticton and Kelowna, BC. He began his teaching career at Calvin College in the department of religion and theology then moved from there to teach at Redeemer College in Ancaster, Ontario. After seven years in Ontario, Bolt moved to Calvin Theological Seminary where he now teaches systematic theology.

Bolt’s goal is to communicate to students the vision of the Christian faith from a Reformed perspective. “By background, training, and conviction I am a Reformed theologian. What especially excites me about the Reformed tradition is its bigness, its grand kingdom vision of Christ’s universal lordship. This vision, which gives dignity and worth to human vocation and hope in the midst of an uncertain age, is what I want above all to communicate to my students. My vision for Calvin Theological Seminary is that it will increasingly become a center for training students from all over the world in the Reformed Christian faith. I believe this faith is the hope of the world.”

John is married to Ruth, and has three children, two granddaughters, and one grandson. He is author of The Christian Story and the Christian School, Stewards of the Word, and A Free Church, A Holy Nation: Abraham Kuyper’s American Public Theology. He is also the editor of the four-volume English edition of Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics.